Pill dispenser

ABSTRACT

A pill dispenser particularly useful for elderly patients having reduced muscular control and who must take a large number of pills each day. The dispenser includes 28 separate pill-receiving compartments, each at least 0.15 cubic inches in volume. A slotted circular cover rotatably mounted at the top of the dispenser may be rotated into alignment with any of four different times of a day for any of 7 days of the week, so that the pills for a given time of a given day can be dispensed at one time.

United States Patent 1 1 1 1 3,921,806

Wawracz 5] Nov. 25, 1975 l l PILL DISPENSER 3.393.795 12/1966 Covert. Jr206/533 x [76} Inventor: Jovce L. Wawracz, 9108 Upton PrimarvExaminer-Allen N. Knowles A 5 th, Bl gi ou Oommgton Mum Attorney, Agent,or FirmJames R. Haller; H. Dale Palmatier [22] F1led: June 10, 1974 21App]. 196.; 477,674 1 1 B RA A pill dispenser particularly useful forelderly patients [52] US CL. 206/534, 1 16/17 706/533 having reducedmuscular control and who must take a [51] Int 85/56 large number ofpills each day. The dispenser includes 58 Field of Search 5652551358,533. 459, 28 compmmems .each at least 706/539, 1 ]6/l71 MUS 0.15 cubicinches 1n volume. A slotted circular cover h rotatably mounted at thetop of the dispenser may be [56] References Cited rotated into alignmentwith any of four different times of a day for any of 7 days of the week,so that the pills UNITED STATES PATENTS for a given time of a given daycan be dispensed at one 2.573311 10/1951 Cupler 1. 206/459 X time1903.127 9/1959 Dormzm 1 1 206/538 X 0 2.953.212 9/1960 Shaw 206/534 13ClalmS, 5 Drawmg Flgures PILL DISPENSER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Itis well known that many elderly patients, particularly those with suchailments as arthritis and heart disease, must take quite a large numberof medicinal pills each day. Such pills may range from simple aspirintablets to diuretic tablets, digitalis tablets, and the like, and mayrange in size from very small pills to fairly large gelatin capsules.Some tablets must be taken four time each day, whereas others may betaken only once or twice each day. In any event, such patients mustoften take two, three, or more pills at a single time. For home usage,pills ordinarily are purchased in bottles by patients and the patientsmust then read and follow the dosage instructions on the bottle.Although this is a simple matter when only a single medicine isinvolved, it often becomes difficult to keep track of medicines whenseveral medicinal pills are to be taken at different times of the day.Understandably, it is often difficult for a patient to recall how manyor what kind of tablets should be taken at any particular time of theday, and on occasion patients will forget whether a tablet has beentaken or is to be taken. Such forgetfulness, which is not an uncommontrait of elderly patients, can lead to overdoses of medicines which maybe very serious, as wen digitalis pills are being taken.

A dispenser for dispensing pills to patients which would overcome oralleviate the problems mentioned above would be very desirable.Unfortunately, there is no dispenser on the market of which I am awarewhich permits one to automatically keep track of which of many pillshave been taken, and to permit more than one pill to be dispensed at atime. In fact, although some effort has been directed towards pilldispensers in recent years, substantially all of such dispensers werefor birth control" pills. Examples of such devices may be found in US.Pat. Nos. 3,533,371; 3,495,567; 3,743,085, etc, and each of such devicesdispenses a single pill per day. Such devices are expected to be smalland fashionable for carrying in a purse, and may even be provided with acompact mirror such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,651,927. In addition todispensing the single pill per day, such devices are often mechanicallyquite sophisticated and require some sophistication on the part of theuser in order to enable proper operation of the dispenser. Suchdispensers do not have compartments for receiving more than one pill,nor can they be easily operated by a physically handicapped person, norare these dispensers adapted to furnish a weeks supply of pills andtablets wherein more than one tablet is taken at a time several times aday. A pill dispenser which would overcome these deficiencies and whichcould be easily manipulated and used by elderly or arthritic persons,would be highly beneficial.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The pill dispenser of the presentinvention is adapted to carry a weeks supply of pills, and enablesseveral pills to be administered as many as four times per day. The pilldispenser may be easily operated by a person with poor muscular controlor with arthritis or the like. The pill dispenser comprises acylindrical container having a circular base plate with a centralupright mounting post and an upright, circumferential wall rising fromthe periphery of the base plate. The upright wall terminates upwardly ina horizontal. annular flange. A plurality of upright divider walls areradially disposed within the containere between the center post andcircumferential wall, the divider walls being equally spacedcirucmferentially to divide the container into at least 28 piesliced-spaced, pill-receiving compartments each having a volume of atleast 0.15 cubic inches, and a blank pie sliced-shaped section. Thehorizontal flange is divided into at least 29 segments corresponding tothe 28 pill-receiving compartments and the blank section. Upon the uppersurface of the flange opposite each sequential group of foursequential'compartments are written the names of the seven day of theweek, and the flange also contains written indicia for each of the fourcompartments in each grorup relating to four times of the day, such asmorning, noon, dinner, and evening. A circular cover is rotatablyconnected at is center to the upstanding center post of the container bya screw or the like, the periphery of the cover being serrated andextending beyond the periphery of the circumferential walls so that thecover can be easily be grasped by one hand and turned while the lowerportion of the compartment itself is grasped by the other hand of theuser. The cover has a pie sliced-shaped slot oriented to overlie each ofthe pie sliced-shaped compartments as the cover is rotated to permit theremoval of pills from a given compartment for a given day and given timeof that day. The cover is transparent, or cut out, adjacent itsperiphery so that a user may read the day of the week and time of theday of the week and time of the day on the horizontal flange whichcorresponds to the compartment over which the slot is aligned. Theblank" pie slice-shaped section is provided so that the slot on thecover may be positioned thereover when the pill dispenser has beencompletely filled, thus preventing pills from inadvertently escapingfrom the dispenser when the latter is carried in a purse or the like.The pic slicedshaped compartments are sufficiently large to accommodateseveral pills of the size of aspirin tablets or the like, so that anumber of pills can be dispensed from each compartment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of a dispenser of theinvention, shown partially broken away;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the dispenser of FIG. 1, shownpartially broken away and in partial cross section;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the dispenser of FIGS. 1 and 2, showingassembly of the parts thereof;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a single pie slicedshaped compartmentof a dispenser of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of a modified dispenser of the invention,shown partially broken away and in partial cross section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIGS.l-3, the dispenser of the invention is designated generally 10, andincludes a cir cularbase plate 12 having a centrally positioned, uprightmounting post 14, the latter having an axial hole 14.1 which is openupwardly. As shown best in FIG. 3, a cylindrical, upstanding wall I6 isjoined to the periphery of the base plate 12, and terminates upwardlyina horizontal flange 16.1. A disc-like circular cover I8 is providedwith a central hole 18.1 through which a pin,

depicted as screw 20, may pass for reception in the hole 14.1 which maybe threaded to receive the screw. The screw 20 has an enlarged head 20.1which bears upon the upper surface of the cover 18 adjacent the hole18.1, the head of the screw urging the cover against the upper surfaceof the post 14. The horizontal flange 16.1 is of substantially the sameheight as the central post 14, and is hence slidably contacted by theperiphery of the circular cover 18. The periphery 18.2 of the coverextends beyond the periphery of the cylindrical walls 16, and isserrated as shown best in FIG. 2 so that the cover 18 can be easilygrasped and turned with respect to the base plate 12 and cylindricalwalls 16. The circular cover 18 is also provided with a single pieslicedshaped slot 18.3, the purpose of which will be subsequentlyexplained.

A plurality of stationary upright divider walls 14.3 are radiallydisposed between the center post 14 and the cylindrical wall 16 todivide the space between the post and cylindrical wall into at least 28separate pie sliceshaped compartments 14.4, each compartment having avolume (defined by the height and radial length of the divider walls14.3 and the space between adjacent divider walls) of at least 0.15cubic inches. In addition to the at least 28 compartments 14.4, there isprovided an additional pie slicedshaped segment 14.5 which may be in theform of a compartment like the others or which may be of solid plasticor the like.

When the cover 18 is mounted to the upright mounting post 14 of the baseplate, the cover may be rotated with respect to the base plate so thatthe pie sliceshaped slot 18.3 in the cover sequentially comes intoalignment with each of the pie slicedshaped compartments 14.4,permitting pills to be added to or retrieved from the compartments. Whenall of the compartments contain at least one pill, the slot 18.3 in thecover can be turned rotated into alignment with the additional piesliced-shaped segment 14.5, which itself contains no pills. When thecover has been so oriented, the dispenser may be carried in a purse orthe like without fear of spillage. It will be understood, of course,that the screw 20 may be turned down with varying degrees of tightnessso as to vary the manual force required to turn the cover 18 withrespect to the base plate 10.

Referring now to FIG. 1, it will be seen that the 28 pie sliced-shapedcompartments are divided into seven groups containing four compartmentseach, each group of four compartments corresponding to a given day ofthe week, and each compartment within a group corresponding to a giventime of the day. The indicia relating to days of the week, and also timeof day, are provided on the upper surface of the flange 16.1 which, inFIG. 2, is seen to extend inwardly from the cylindrical walls 16. Sincethe ciruclar cover 18 is transparent, at least in the region of the slot18.3, the indicia on the upper surface of the flange 16.1 can be easilyread. The flange 16.1, which is stationary with respect to thecompartments 14.4, is divided into seven segments which are respectivelydirectly adjacent each of the seven groups of four compartments, and onthe upper surface of the flange for each group of four compartments iswritten the name of the day of the week. Spaced inwardly slightly fromthe indicia as to days of the week, and opposite each of the fourcompartments within each group, is written a time of the day such as AM,Noon, DN (dinner) and PM, or such as 8:00 am, Noon, 4:00 pm. and 8:00pm, or the like. Although the indicia relating to days of the week onthe flange 16.1 are intended to be permanent, the redially inwardlyspaced areas of the flange upon which may be written the times of eachday may initially be left blank and may be filled in by a pharmacist,doctor. or the patient. In this regard, the surface of the flange to befilled in may be chemically etched or roughened so as to become morereceptive of pencil or ink markings.

With reference to FIG. 4, each of the compartments 14.4 are ofsufficient volume to hold a number of pills (designated 14.6) therein. 1have determined that the volume of each such compartment which isrequired to hold a suitable number of pills such as three or four pillsthe size of aspirin tablets should be at least 0.15

cubic inches, and desirably at least 0.2 cubic inches. If the pilldispenser of the invention is approximately l inch thick by 3 /2 inchesin diameter (the diameter of the circumferential walls), and if thethickness of all walls is approximately three sixty fourths inches withthe center post being 1 inch in diameter, than the volume of each of 29equal compartments (28 compartments plus one *blank" compartment orsegment) will be in the neighborhood of 2.2 cubic inches, and thisvolume is capable of readily holding up to four ordinary five-grainaspirin tablets, or considerably more tablets of a smaller size.Adjacent the circumferential wall, the compartment may receive a gelatincapsule having a diameter of up to about one fourth inches and a lengthof up to about three fourths inches, with space remaining in thecompartment for various other tablets, as shown in FIG. 4.

The dispenser shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be assembled as shown in FIG. 3from three plastic parts (the base plate with integral divider walls,the circumferential wall with inwardly directed flange, and the coverplate with slot and central hole). Of these pieces, it may be desirableto mold from a thermoplastic material the base plate with divider walls,and also the circumferential wall with flange, and to stamp the coverfrom plastic sheet stock. The flanged circumferential wall has an innerdiameter which fits tightly against the outer edges of thedivider walls,with the lower surface of the flange fitting tightly against uppersurfaces of the divider walls. The flanged circumferential walls may beglued or otherwise fastened in position. The top of the center post 14is at the same level as, or may be very slightly depressed from, the topsurface of the flange 16.1. In this manner, when the cover 18 isconnected fairly tightly to the center post 14 by means of the screw 20,the cover 18 will bear upon not only the top surface of the center postbut also the top surface of the flange 16.1. Since the cover 18 isdesirably of plastic and with a thickness of approximately threesixtyfourths inches, it has some flexibility such that if the uppersurface of the center post is slightly depressed with respect to the topsurface of the flange. the cover plate will assume a configuration whichis very slightly concave upwardly; this feature also permits thetightness of the cover 18 to be adjusted with some ease by tightening orloosening the screw 20 so that some minimal effort must be expended bythe user in order to turn the cover to rotate the slot 18.3 from onecompartment to an adjacent compartment. The screw threads are desirablytighly held within the bore of the threaded center post so that thescrew remains stationary with respect to the center post when the coveris rotated. Desirably, the direction of the screw threads is such thatif the screw does accidentally turn in the hole 14.1 when the cover isrotated in use (e.g.; from one day to the following day), the

screw is threaded further into the hole.

FIG. depicts a modified form of the dispenser of FIGS. 1-3 in that theflange 16.1 is turned outwardly rather than inwardly as shown in FIG. 2.With the configuration shown in FIG. 5, the base plate 12,circumferential wall 16, center post 20, and divider walls 14.3 can bemolded as a single unit, thus reducing manufacturing costs. Moreover,whereas the inwardly turned flange 16.1 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3requires pills to be carefully removed from each compartment so that thepills do not accidentally become lodged underneath the flange, theembodiment of FIG. 5 permits the pills to be removed directly outwardlyfrom each compartment. On the other hand, if the individual compartmentsof the dispensers of FIG. 2 and FIG. 5 are to be of the same size, thenthe diameter of the cover 18 of the embodiment of FIG. 5 must besomewhat greater than that of the cover of FIG. 2, since the cover mustextend beyond the periphery of the flange 16.1 in each embodiment.

The dispenser of the invention is preferably made of a thermoplasticsuch as polypropylene, and wall thicknesses of the walls of the baseplate 12, the circumferential wall 16 and the cover 18 may be slightlythicker than the divider walls separating adjacent compartments.Moreover, with reference to FIG. 2, the inner corner at the juncture ofthe horizontal flange 16.1 and the cylindrical wall 16 may be filletedto reduce any tendancy of pills to become lodged in this corner area.The divider walls, base plate, horizontal flange and cir-1 cumferentialwalls may be transparent. translucent, opague, or colored if desired.The cover 18 is desirably completely transparent so that the clay andtime indicia on the upper surface of the flange 16.1 can be seen throughthe cover. In this regard, it is necessary only that a sufficient areaof the cover adjacent its periphery and adjacent also the slot betransparent sothe day of the week and the time of day for thecompartment aligned with the slot canbe seen. In another embodiment, asegment of the cover adjacent its periphery may be cut away to exposethe indicia relating to the clay and time of day correspondding to thecompartment over which the slot is aligned, and it may be desirable toextend the thus cut away portion to include the slot itself. 1

In use, the pill dispenser of the invention is first carefully chargedwith pills of the various types which are to be taken at certain timesof each day for an entire week. It will be understood that in certaincases one or more of the compartments for each day may reamain empty ifpills are to be taken less often than four times a day. Pills may beloaded into the dispenser through the slot 1.3, or the cover 18 may beremoved to facilitate loading. When charged with the prescribed pills,the cover is rotated to align the slot 18.3 with the blank piesliced-shape section 14.5, whereupon the pill dispenser may be readilycarried in the pocket or purse without fear of spilling pills. When thetime has arrived for dispensing the pills within a given compartment.the cover 18 is rotated so that the slot is aligned with thatcompartment. and the pills are then removed through that slot. To aforgetful person, the present of pills within a give compartmentindicates that the pills corresponding to that day and that time havenot been taken, whereas the absence of pills from a given compartmentindicate that the pills have been taken.

The dispenser itself may range up to 3 A inches in diameter. or more,and may be approximately 1 inch in 6 I depth. With this size, the bottomof the pill dispenser, that is, the portion including the base plate 12and the lower portion of the circumferential wall 16, may be graspedeasily by one hand, and the cover 18 may be grasped by the other hand,makinguse of the serrated edge of the latter. In this manner; thedispenser can be operated even by those having physical conditionsreducing manual exterity. The ease with which the cover 18 can be turnedwith respect to the rest of'thedispenser can be governed by thetightness with which the cover is fastened to the center post 14 withthe screw 20.

Manifestly, I have provided a pill dispenser which is capable of holdinga weeks supply of pills which may be taken up to four times per day andwherein more than one pill may be taken at a single time. My pilldispenser may be easily operated even byhandicapped persons, and reducesthe likelihood of serious accidents which could occur by one taking moreor less than the prescribed number of pills at a given time. The pilldispenser of my invention may be easily and readily fabricated fromthermoplastic materials using fairly simple mold designs, and is capableof reuse. Moreover, the indicia relating to time of the day at whichpills are to taken may be changed at will by the replacement of oneindicium with another indicium.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of the present invention,it should be understood that various changes, adaptations, andmoddifications may be made therein without departingfrom the spirit ofthe invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed: 1. A pill dispenser .for carrying a weeks supply of Jpills to be dispensed at the rate of one or more pills several times aday, the dispenser comprising:

a cylindrical container including a circular bottom plate with a centralupright mounting post and a circumferential wall rising from theperiphery of the base plate and having an upper, horizontally extendingflange, 29 spaced, stationary, upright divider walls disposed radiallybetween the mounting post and circumferential wall and dividing thecontainer into 28 pill-receiving compartments and a compartment-sizeblank segment, the compartments having internal volumes of at least 0.15cubic inches, the horizontal flange bearing the names of sequential daysof the week opposite each sequential group of four compartments andviewable from above, the dispenser having a circular cover includingmeans permitting the names of the sequential days to be viewed fromabove, the cover being rotatably connected at its center to the mountingpost and having a periphery extending readially beyond the periphery ofthe horizontal flange, the cover having a slot positioned tosequentially overlie and permit sequential access to the compartmentsfrom above as the cover is rotated.

2. The pill dispenser of claim 1 wherein said horizon- 0 tal flangeextends inwardly of the periphery of the cir- 7 the upright mountingpost, the dispenser including a pin passing through the hole in thecover and into the hole in the mounting post for rotatably mounting thecover to the mounting post.

5. The pill dispenser of claim 1 wherein the horizontal flange has anupper surface with space opposite each of the four compartments in eachgroup for writing a time of the day.

6. The pill dispenser of claim 1 wherein the horizontal flange oppositeeach of the four compartments in each group bears written indicia of adifferent time of day.

7. The pill dispenser of claim 1 wherein the base plate, mounting postand divider walls comprise a single molded unit.

8. The pill dispenser of claim 1 wherein the base plate, divider walls,mounting post, circumferential wall and horizontal flange comprise asingle molded unit.

9. The pill dispenser of claim 1 in which the circular cover istransparent to permit written indicia on the upper surface of the flangeto be read through the cover,

10. The pill dispenser of claim 4 in which the compartments haveinternal volumes of at least 0.22 cubic inches.

11. A pill dispenser for carrying a weeks supply of pills to bedispensed at the rate of one or more pills several times a day, thedispenser comprising:

a cylindrical container including a circular base plate with a central,upright mounting post with an axial, threaded hole open upwardly and acircumferential wall rising from the periphery of the base plate, thecircumferential wall terminating upwardly in a horizontal flange ofslightly greater height than the mounting post, 29 stationary, uprightdivider walls disposed radially between the mounting post andcircumferential wall and dividing the container into 28 identicalpill-receiving compartments each having an internal volume of at least0.15 cubic inches and a compartment-size blank segment, the horizontalflange bearing the names of sequential days of the week opposite eachsequential group of four compartments, a transparent circular coverhaving a central hole aligned with the threaded hole in the mountingpost, and a mounting screw passing through the hole in the cover andthreaded into the axial hole in the mounting post and having an expandedhead bearing downwardly against the 5 upper surface of the coveradjacent the periphery of its central hole, said screw urging the coverto bear downwardly against and slidably engage the upper surface of thehorizontal flange, the cover being transparent and having a diametergreater than that of the horizontal flange and a serrated periphery andalso having a slot positioned to overlie and permit retrieval of pillsfrom one compartment at a time as the cover is rotated.

12. A pill dispenser for carrying a weeks supply of pills to bedispensed at the rate of one or more pills several times a day, thedispenser comprising:

a cylindrical container including a circular bottom plate with acentral, upright mounting post and a circumferential wall rising fromthe periphery of the base plate and having an upper, horizontallyextending flange at a slightly greater height than the mounting post, 29spaced, stationary, upright divider walls disposed radially between themounting post and circumferential wall and dividing the container into28 identical pill-receiving compartments and a compartment-size blanksegment, the compartments having internal volumes of at least 0.15 cubicinches, the horizontal flange bearing the names of sequential days ofthe week opposite each sequential group of four compartments andviewable from above, the dispenser having a circular cover through whichthe names of days may be viewed and rotatably connected at its center tothe mounting post to urge the cover downwardly into sliding engagementwith the horizontal flange, the cover having a periphery extendingradially beyond the periphery of the horizontal flange and having a,siot positioned to sequentially overlie and permit sequential access tothe compartments from above as the cover is rotated.

13. The pill dispenser of claim 12 wherein the base plate, dividerwalls, mounting post, circumferential wall and horizontal flangecomprise a single molded LII Unlt.

1. A pill dispenser for carrying a week''s supply of pills to bedispensed at the rate of one or more pills several times a day, thedispenser comprising: a cylindrical container including a circularbottom plate with a central upright mounting post and a circumferentialwall rising from the periphery of the base plate and having an upper,horizontally extending flange, 29 spaced, stationary, upright dividerwalls disposed radially between the mounting post and circumferentialwall and dividing the container into 28 pillreceiving compartments and acompartment-size blank segment, the compartments having internal volumesof at least 0.15 cubic inches, the horizontal flange bearing the namesof sequential days of the week opposite each sequential group of fourcompartments and viewable from above, the dispenser having a circularcover including means permitting the names of the sequential days to beviewed from above, the cover being rotatably connected at its center tothe mounting post and having a periphery extending readially beyond theperiphery of the horizontal flange, the cover having a slot positionedto sequentially overlie and permit sequential access to the compartmentsfrom above as the cover is rotated.
 2. The pill dispenser of claim 1wherein said horizontal flange extends inwardly of the periphery of thecircumferential wall.
 3. The pill dispenser of claim 1 wherein thehorizontal flange extends outwardly of the periphery of thecircumferential wall.
 4. The pill dispenser of claim 1 wherein theupright mounting post is provided with an axial, pin-receiving hole openupwardly, and wherein the ciruclar cover has a centrally positioned holealignable with the hole of the upright mounting post, the dispenserincluding a pin passing through the hole in the cover and into the holein the mounting post for rotatably mounting the cover to the mountingpost.
 5. The pill dispenser of claim 1 wherein the horizontal flange hasan upper surface with space opposite each of the four compartments ineach group for writing a time of the day.
 6. The pill dispenser of claim1 wherein the horizontal flange opposite each of the four compartmentsin each group bears written indicia of a different time of day.
 7. Thepill dispenser of claim 1 wherein the base plate, mounting post anddivider walls comprise a single molded unit.
 8. The pill dispenser ofclaim 1 wherein the base plate, divider walls, mounting post,circumferential wall and horizontal flange comprise a single moldedunit.
 9. The pill dispenser of claim 1 in which the circular cover istransparent to permit written indicia on the upper surface of the flangeto be read through the cover.
 10. The pill dispenser of claim 4 in whichthe compartments have internal volumes of at least 0.22 cubic inches.11. A pill dispenser for carrying a week''s supply of pills to bedispensed at the rate of one or more pills several times a day, thedispenser comprising: a cylindrical container including a circular baseplate with a central, upright mounting post with an axial, threaded holeopen upwardly and a circumferential wall rising from the periphery ofthe base plate, the circumferential wall terminating upwardly in ahorizontal flange of slightly greater height than the mounting post, 29stationary, upright divider walls disposed radially between the mountingpost and circumferential wall and dividing the container into 28identical pill-receiving compartments each having an internal volume ofat least 0.15 cubic inches and a compartment-size blank segment, thehorizontal flange bearing the names of sequential days of the weekopposite each sequential group of four compartments, a transparentcircular cover having a central hole aligned with the threaded hole inthe mounting post, and a mounting screw passing through the hole in thecover and threaded into the axial hole in the mounting post and havingan expanded head bearing downwardly against the upper surface of thecover adjacent the periphery of its central hole, said screw urging thecover to bear downwardly against and slidably engage the upper surfaceof the horizontal flange, the cover being transparent and having adiameter greater than that of the horizontal flange and a serratedperiphery and also having a slot positioned to overlie and permitretrieval of pills from one compartment at a time as the cover isrotated.
 12. A pill dispenser for carrying a week''s supply of pills tobe dispensed at the rate of one or more pills several times a day, thedispenser comprising: a cylindrical container including a circularbottom plate with a central, upright mounting post and a circumferentialwall rising from the periphery of the base plate and having an upper,horizontally extending flange at a slightly greater height than themounting post, 29 spaced, stationary, upright divider walls disposedradially between the mounting post and circumferential wall and dividingthe container into 28 identical pill-receiving compartments and acompartment-size blank segment, the compartments having internal volumesof at least 0.15 cubic inches, the horizontal flange bearing the namesof sequential days of the week opposite each sequential group of fourcompartments and viewable from above, the dispenser having a circularcover through which the names of days may be viewed and rotatablyconnected at its center to the mounting post to urge the coverdownwardly into sliding engagement with the horizontal flange, the coverhaving a periphery extending radially beyond the periphery of thehorizontal flange and having a slot positioned to sequentially overlieand permit sequential access to the compartments from above as the coveris rotated.
 13. The pill dispenser of claim 12 wherein the base plate,divider walls, mounting post, circumferential wall and horizontal flangecomprise a single molded unit.